Building block



y 1935- I v. A. BARNHART 2,009,217

BUILDING BLOCK Original Filed Jan. 17, 1929 a INVENTOR VERA/ 4 54RNHA1RT ATTORNEYS Patented July 23, 1935 w en BUILDING BLOCK 7 Vern A. Barnhart, Jester Lake, Milt-n, N. .1.

Application January 17, 1929, Serial No. 333,110

Renewed December 21, 1934 21 Claims.

:The invention relates to building blocks and more particularly to that class thereof which commonly are referred to as hollow tiles. Such blocks generally comprise shells which usually are of rectangular cross section and are open at their opposite ends, so that the axis which extends lengthwise through said open ends may be considered the major axis of the block. When utilizing such blocks in the erection of a building wall or equivalent structure, it is desirable for many reasons tolay the blocks with the aforesaid major axes extending horizontally. Undersuch conditions the hollow blocks are subject to being fractured under compression strains and very often do not meet predetermined building code and other requirements because of this fact. The present invention has for its object the provision of a building block of the hollow .tile'type L in which the strength to resist the aforesaid compression strains is materially increased beyond the existing limits without complicating'the construction of such blocks or affecting the utiliza'- tion thereof. Other more specific objects will 1 appear irom the description hereinafter and the features of novelty will be pointed out in the claims.

In the'accompanying drawing, which illustrates several examples of the invention without defin- 30, ing the limits thereof, Fig. 1 is anend view of is an end view of still: another form of block;

, Fig. 5 is an end view of a section broken from the block of Fig. 4 to form'a half-block; and Fig. 6 is a Iragmentary View showing a section of a wall constructed with the block of Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawing the block is of approximately rectangular form and comprises a f hollow shell open at its opposite ends and made of any suitable material conventionally used in the production of building blocks of the hollow tile type. 1

% In theform shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the four walls of the shell converge inwardly in transverse relation to the major axis of said shell preferably along curved lines, the preferred inward curve extending throughout the walls Hi from edge to edge of. the block, although in some cases itmay be desirable to restrict the curve to pre-' determined intermediate parts of said walls or to obtain the inward convergence of said walls In in some otherequivalent manner. I have found that the inwardly curved or equivalent inwardconverging lines of the walls In, need be only the novel block; Fig. 2fis an elevation partly broken away on the line 22' of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view of another'form of the block; Fig. 4"

slight, although special circumstances may: make it desirableto make saidinward curves or' their equivalent more pronounced, andit is accordingly to be I understood that the illustrated examples of the curved walls do not define the limits of the invention. The block of Figs. 1 and 2 fur'ther ineludes bracing means located interiorly of'the' snell for rigidly fixing the inward convergence of the walls ltl, said means consisting for: in stance of rigid websextending between and en-v gaging the opposedlinneri surfaces er the walls Ifl. of each pair, and crossing eachother as shown in Fig. 1.v The specific form 'of webs' illustrated.

in Fig. 1 are eachhollow andconsistoi, a pair of 1 web members It located in spacedparallel rela tion to each other in each hollow web. I I

In the form shown in Fig. 3 the blockincludes a hollow shell, the upper and lower walls-ii! of,

which are straight, while the side walls ifi con verge inwardly for instance along curved lines as illustrated. The inward convergence or curvatureof the walls ill is rigidly fixed by'means of a web, li whichlextends between and engages said walls W and may be hollow as indicated, or

of. any other suitable form, as maybe desired.

The block illustrated'in Fig; 3 is half. the dimen-,

sions ofthe block'of'Fig. l and accordingly may be ter'med"a half-block, it being. understood, however, that the arrangement. under discussion is not limited to blocks of any particular. dimensions. The block. illustrated in Fig. 4, in external construction and arrangement, may-bathe same as the block ofFigs. 1 and 2. Thebracing means however, is somewhat different .andconsists of web members I l which, instead of; being straight as in Fig. 1, are cur ved in opp osed relation to each pair of shell walls 10/ In other words the web members li are arrangedin pairs. which cross each other andextendbetween and in en gagement' with each pair of shell walls 1,, one pair of web members i l being curved in opposed relationto one pairof shell walls Ill and the other pair of webmembers l being curved in opposed relation to theother pair of shell walls IG. VZith this arrangement if the block of Fig. 4 is divided along the dotted line'a-a, the half blockof Fig.

The novel arrangement andconstruction of the building block enables the latter to be laid in courses with the major axis of the shells extending in horizontal directions, as shown by way of example in Fig. 6, the blocks being either staggered in each alternate course or located in coterminous relation or in registry with each other in such course in the customary manner. In the latter case the relatively sharp edges provided by the inwardly converging walls of the shell rest against, or at least are in close proximity to each other and provide a firm seal in the mortar bed on which said blocks set without rocking; correspondingly when set in staggered relation the edges of the blocks in one course will engage the inwardly converging shell walls of the next course at intermediate points and thus provide the same firm setting for the blocks.

It is well recognized in the building art that the strains developed upon hollow tile are compression strains exerted downwardly from above and producing resisting compression strains exerted upwardly from below each block. These compression strains in turn develop stresses in the block which extend outwardly in opposite directions from the centre of the block in transverse relation to the aforesaid compression strains. As a result of this the developed forces tend to force the side walls of the shell outwardly and to fracture the block, this fracture occurring when the resistance of the block is exceeded by the strains thereon. In practice it has been found that the aforesaid compression strains are developed in the form of wedges of pressure with the apices of the wedges meeting along the major median line of the shell, the outwardly developed fracturing forces likewise being the form of wedges, the apices of which meet at said median line. The inwardly curved or otherwise converg-. ing walls of the shell thus define structures which approximately correspond to the compression strains and are in more or less direct alignment therewith, so that said walls directly absorb such stresses without the creation of any shearing or tensional strains. At the same time the inwardly converging or curved form of the side walls of the shell provides arches against which the outward fracturing forces are directed; as the resisting strength of the arch is well known in engineering, it will be obvious that such fracturing strains will be resisted far beyond any strain capable of being resisted by straight walls. resisting strength of the inwardly curved walls of the shell is further increased by the webs H or their equivalent whereby the inward convergence of the walls I I] or their equivalent is rigidly fixed; these webs ll prevent any inward flexing or collapse of the walls l under compression strains by providing a compression tie which extends between and engages the opposed walls of each pair.

Experiments have shown that the novel construction increases the strength of the block fifty per cent or more, over existing forms of blocks; for instance, where an eight inch hollow block of ordinary construction is capable of resisting a compression force of 900 lbs. to the square inch, it has been demonstrated that an eight inch block including the novel features is capable of resisting compression strains up to 1350 lbs. to the square inch. When the blocks are built up in the form of a wall or equivalent structure the advantages inherent in individual blocks and the resistance powers thereof are communicated to adjacent blocks and accordingly are multiplied throughout the structure of which the blocks form a part.

The

The novel block may be constructed in any size and with any type of interior web and presents no complications either in its manufacture or use. Blocks embodying the novel features are capable of being used in the same way as ordinary blocks and may be set on end wherever such an arrangement is necessary or desirable; in addition the novel blocks may be used in many specific and individual ways.

It is to be understood that wherever in the description or claims the walls are referred to as being inwardly curved, this terminology is intended to include any equivalent form of inward convergence.

Various changes in the specific formsshown and described may be made within the scope of the claims withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:-

1. A hollow building block comprising an open ended shell having opposite vertical side walls curving inwardly the curvature radius of each of said side walls being greater than any dimension of the block, and compression resisting bracing means extending between and engaging said op-.

posite walls for rigidly fixing the curvature thereof whereby facture of said walls under compression strains is resisted. V

2. A hollow building block comprisingan open ended shell of rectangular cross-section having opposite vertical side walls curving inwardly in transverse relation to the major axis of said shell, the curvature radius of each of said side walls being greater than any dimensionof theblock, and a rigid compressionresisting web extending between and engaging said opposite walls for rigidly fixing the curvature thereof whereby fracture of said walls under vertical compression'strains transverse to said major ads is resisted.

3. A hollow building block comprising an open ended shell of. rectangular cross section having each pair of opposite walls curving inwardly in transverse relation to the major axis of said shell, and rigid compression Webs crossing each other interiorly of the shell in parallel pairs, said webs extending between and engaging the opposite walls of each pair for rigidly fixing the curvature thereof whereby fracture of said walls under compression strains transverse to said major axis is.

resisted.

4. A hollow building block comprising a shell having straight upper and lower walls and inwardly curved vertical side walls the curvature of said side walls being relatively shallow, anda rigid compression resisting Web, extending horizontally between and engaging said curved walls for rigidly fixingthe curvature thereof whereby facture of said walls under compression strains is resisted.

5. A hollow building block comprising a shell having walls which curve inwardly, a. hollow web dividing said shell into sections and curved in opposed relation to said inwardly curved walls' said, one pair of walls and connecting said other pair of walls.

7. A hollow building block comprising a shell having spaced top and bottom walls and opposite upright walls extending between said top and bottom walls and of shallow inwardly convergent form, and compression resisting means located interiorly of said shell and rigidly fixing the inward convergence of said side walls whereby fracture of the block under compression strains is resisted.

8. A hollow building block comprising a shell having opposite upright walls of shallow inwardly curved form, and compression resisting bracing means located interiorly of said shell and rigidly fixing the inward curvature of said upright walls whereby fracture of the latter under compression strains is resisted.

9. A building wall comprising hollow building blocks laid up with mortar joints between them, the vertical walls of such blocks being slightly concaved and the inward stress due to a load on such concaved walls being resisted by transverse internal webs under compression.

10. A building wall comprising hollowing building blocks having four walls and two pairs of internal crossing webs separated by a distance corresponding to the thickness of a mortar joint, said blocks being laid up with mortar joints between them, the vertical walls of such blocks being slightly concaved, the inward stress due to a load on such concaved walls being resisted by two transverse internal webs under compression.

11. A hollow building block having four walls at least two of which opposite each other are concaved by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of such wall, and of internal transverse webs in the block resisting under compression the inward bowing stresses of the wall.

12. A hollow building block having four sides and an internal transverse web abutting two opposite sides, said opposite sides being concaved externally.

13. A hollow building blockhaving four sides and internal webs crossing each other at right angles, and being substantially normal to the sides which they abut,said block having opposite side walls slightly concaved. a

14. A hollow building block having internal crossing webs and four sides some of whichare slightly concaved externally, some of said webs abutting the internal faces of said externally concaved walls.

15. A hollow building block havingfour sides and a pair of parallel internal transverse webs and having the opposite sides which are substantially normal to said webs externally concaved.

16. A building block having'four sides and'two pairs of internal crossing webs substantially normal to the sides they abut, at least two opposite sides being bowed inwardly.

17. A building block having four walls and two pairs of internal crossing webs, these webs being arrangedparallel with each other and substantially normal to the walls of the block, and separated by the thickness of a mortar joint, and terminating at their far ends in the walls of the block, some of such walls being slightly concaved externally and convexed internally.

18. A hollow building block having four walls and two pairs of internal crossing webs substantially normal to the walls they abut, two opposite walls of the'block being roughened and slightly concaved on their outer faces.

19. A hollow building block having four sides, opposite ones of which are externally concave and internally convex, and means within the block engaging the convexinner face of said opposite sides and resisting inward movement thereof.

20. A hollow building block having four sides, opposite ones of'which are internally convex and a transverse web within the block having its ends abutting said convex face of said sides and adapted to be put in compression by inward pres- 7 sure of said opposite sides.

21. A hollow building block having four sides, opposite ones of which are deflected inwardly toward their mid region, and means within the block engaging said opposite sides to resist inward movement thereof.

VERN A. BARNI-IART. 

